Stock markets on Friday closed flat after a volatile trading session, with benchmark Sensex closing a higher by a marginal 23 points as investors booked profits, mainly in blue-chip energy and IT shares.
The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share Sensex ended the day at 16,994.49 points, up 22.79 points after a volatile trade amid positive global trends.
The National Stock Exchange's 50-share key index Nifty settled at 5,088 points with a 8.45-point gain.
The key index had gained nearly five per cent after the Budget 2010-11, which had buyoed investor sentiment.
Marketmen said investors are shifting focus to mid-cap and small cap companies. "Investors are mainly booking profits in Sensex companies and flocking towards mid-cap and small-cap companies to make money," Nirmal Bang Technical Analyst Michael Pillai said.
Realty shares remained in limelight for the second day today, led by DLF, which topped the list of Sensex gainers at 3.97 per cent. Auto major Hero Honda also notched up an impressive 3.41 per cent. Telcom leader Bharti Airtel was another notable gainer at 1.86 per cent.
Banking stocks ICICI Bank and HDFC attracted buying after they hiked lending rates. IT stocks too managed to come out of selling pressure they were in yesterday. Two largest softwares exporters Infosys and TCS gained less than one per cent, while Wipro ended up losing close to one per cent.
{{/usCountry}}Banking stocks ICICI Bank and HDFC attracted buying after they hiked lending rates. IT stocks too managed to come out of selling pressure they were in yesterday. Two largest softwares exporters Infosys and TCS gained less than one per cent, while Wipro ended up losing close to one per cent.
{{/usCountry}}Among the bog losers, RIL, Tata Motors were the significant ones at 0.37 per cent and 2.01 per cent respectively.